Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy sings some Loverboy in honour of Rob Ford

Comedy = Tragedy + Time based on Twitter shout-out from demoted mayor's office

Just when you thought there was nothing left in the Rob Ford scandal for talk shows to mine, Will Ferrell’s persona from the Anchorman movies has come along, with a performance on Conan O’Brien’s show.

The fact that a fictional character is required to channel jokes about the embattled Toronto mayor suggests that Ford has become such a U.S. late-night comedy cliche in the past week that gags about him are better left to those who live in the past — like Ron Burgundy.

And yet the clip was acknowledged by the demoted mayor’s office itself:

Good morning Toronto. I had to laugh at my friend Ron Burgundy & his take on my 2014 re-election campaign song: http://t.co/5KwKEEWSXU